Fraud-accused Kwinana yet to plead to charges levelled against her

JOHANNESBURG - Yakhe Kwinana, the former chairperson of the SAA audit committee, is yet to plead to charges levelled against her. 

She appeared in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Tuesday morning, facing charges of fraud and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. 

This follows a probe into her activities at SAA by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture where it emerged that she sat on the SAA board which awarded an auditing contract to two private companies which she had previous dealings with.

In her affidavit, Kwinana said that she reserved her right to remain silent until the State furnished her with a copy of the docket. 

Kwinana is charged with fraud and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act following the awarding of a 2011 auditing tender to PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nkonki Incorporated. 

The tender was approved by SAA's auditing committee, which Kwinana chaired at the time.

The State alleges that she failed to declare to the board that she had previous dealings with both companies in her private capacity. 

But in her affidavit, Kwinana claimed the State was incorrect in its analysis, emphasising that she was at no stage involved in the tender adjudication process, which the supply chain department was solely responsible for. 

The two companies scored R59 million from the tender. 

Nkonki, however, has since been liquidated.

The case was adjourned to 29 January to allow the State to provide Kwinana with copies of the docket.